By Senior Correspondent Marty Ogden, Editing and Graphics by Ron Knapp

There was plenty of action this past weekend with several meets all over the region that had national and state wide implications. Follow along as we highlight some of the most significant performances.

Hillhouse Outdoor Invite

Hillhouse HS, New Haven CT

RESULTS

The biggest highlight of the weekend was the girls long jump at the Hillhouse Invite. Four girls went over 18-feet which by itself is a pretty deep field. Windsor’s Destiny Ross-Bates (18-0), freshman Saphyr Brown (18-9) of Bloomfield and her teammate Indya Norman (18-9) all set PRs and had three of the top six jumps in the state this year. But on Keira Stewart’s second to last jump she surpassed them all, breaking 19-feet for the first time. Then on her final jump of the afternoon, the East Hartford senior wrote her name into the CT record book soaring to 19-10.0. Her jump supplanted Branford’s Tahari James’s 20-year-old record by two inches. 

Stewart’s jump was over a foot better than her previous best. According to East Hartford girl’s coach Mark Brown, “Kiera has hit the weight room hard with Adrian Nelson the East Hartford boys coach, and has been working on technique with school record holder and former New England Triple Jump Champion, Dana Bramble”.

The boys 400m was also deep with four going under 50-seconds. The New England 300m champion Maxim Copeland of Windsor was pushed hard by Class MM 400m runner-up Kyle Hoffman of Hand with Hoffman running 48.71 and Copeland taking the win in 48.39. Class M 300 champion Michael Fisher took third in 49.15 while Class MM champion Howard Hunter of Windsor ran 49.95 in fourth place. 

Windsor boys broke the state record in the 4x400m this winter, earning All American in the process. They immediately set a goal of breaking the outdoor state record. But on a cool, gray day, the Warrior team of Caneil Goldson, Shelldon Simpson, John Manning and Jovonni Reynolds ran 42.42 the 4x100m. That performance would have broken into the top 20 fastest times in state history, except for the fact they already have the CT state record of 41.40. Without their two best runners Copeland and Taeshawn Berry on the team, the Warriors already have the state lead for 2024 and have the potential to record the program’s 5th sub 42 second by the end of the season. 

NY Relays

Icahn Stadium, Randall Island NY

RESULTS

At Icahn Stadium on Randall Island in NY two CT athletes swept both multi-event competitions. Bloomfield’s D'Asia Duncan, who just transferred from Florida, improved upon her state lead in the 100m hurdles, running 14.60. She also ran 25.98 for 200m, high jumped 4 -11.75, long jumped 16-8, threw the javelin 79-7, tossed the shot put 26-3.25 and ran the 800m in 2:24.83. Her total score of 4,449 points broke the meet and high school stadium record and is currently US#1. Her performance is also the 9th best performance in CT history. 

Bethel’s Kyle Kurtz is the top returner from the CIAC Decathlon and is an early favorite to take the crown. He not only won the event with a score of 5,717 points, he took over the top spot in the US national rankings. He ran 11.58 for the 100m, 53.19 for the 400m, 4:37.17 in the 1500m and 16.02 for the 110m hurdles. He high jumped 5-9.25, long jumped 18-5 and vaulted 13-10.5. In the throws he reached a distance of 75-9 in the discus, 101-7.75 in the javelin and 30-3 in the shot put. 

Gander Invite

Rondout Valley HS, NY US

RESULTS

Danbury traveled to Rondout Valley HS in NY, a little over an hour from their school on Clapboard Ridge Rd. Without their distance runners who competed at the CT Distance Festival on Friday night, they finished 2nd in the team competition behind Shaker by a score of 89.5 to 79.5. 

They took the top three spots in the 100m, led by Machai Henry, who set the Danbury sophomore record, speeding to a 10.86 finish. His time also took over the state’s lead. Basketball player Dominic Atuahene came out for track and ran 11.02, the 6th best time in CT and Tobeas Kelly ran 11.11. All three are underclassmen and joined senior Nasir Ricketts to run 43.02 in the 4x100m, the #2 time in CT behind Windsor. 

Patriot Games

Coventry HS, Coventry CT

RESULTS

Coventry hosted the Patriot Games that featured mostly Class M and S schools. Marquis Ward of Maloney ran the CT #2 in the 100m finishing in 10.94 that moved him into the Class M lead so far this season. 

Running the top two 800m times in Class M were David Iacino of Lewis Mills who took the win in 1:58.80 and Ellington’s Connor Lagasse who ran 1:59.78.

In the girls high jump, Indoor State Open champion Avery Pitts of E.O. Smith tied for the state lead with a jump of 5-4 CT. As a sign of her consistency, this is the second time she has cleared that height this season

Bill Mongovan HS Girls Invitational

Bethel HS, Bethel CT

RESULTS

On Saturday BethelHS held a meet in honor of former USATF-CT president and Greenwich coach Bill Mongovan.

Bethel’s Talia Graham cleared her lifetime best pole vault with a height of 12-6. Her jump is top 40 in the US and automatically qualifies for NBNO and is the 3rd best jump in CT history. 

Cheshire’s Squirrel Lanz won both the 100m and 300m hurdles. The senior who will run for Yale next year ran 15.17 in the shorter hurdle race and 45.66 in the longer race. Her times are CT #3 in both events. 

Class LL javelin champion Maya Marin of Trumbull won the event with a throw of 124-6. This is the second time she has gone over 120-feet this season while no other CT athletes have reached that distance yet. She also won the discus with a PR of 116-0. 

Visit the only site for the latest Connecticut High School State Records for Outdoor and Indoor Track & Field at My Track and Field Records.